Did you know that before and after World War 2, G.M., Exxon Gas, and several other companies conspired together to close down a very successful commuter train railway in and around Los Angeles California? I did not know that. In the pending antitrust litigation the companies lost and were fined ceremonious dollar. G.M. and these other companies slowly bought stock in the railroads and shut them down to force people to drive cars. G.M. also had very strong ties to Nazi Germany. Eventually they disavowed there ties in order to take a tax break for the inactivity of the German facilities. However, when the war ended they still took a huge reparation check from the United States because the Allies had bombed their factories.
Now compare that to Dr. Jonas Salk. Do you know who Dr. Salk is? He is the medical doctor who discovered a cure for polio. That cure is available to the entire world and it is virtually free. Dr. Salk purposely did not patent his vaccination. He believed the right thing to do was save lives, not make millions of dollars off of a virus. When asked who owned the patent to the vaccine, he famously stated, “Can you patent the sun?”
Dr. Salk is a hero. He gave life. He is to be remembered as such. Lets not forget though, as we battle pollution and a devastating reliance on foreign oil, that G.M. purposely ended quality public transportation for profit. The real kicker is they recently received a bailout.
Integrity is doing the right thing all the time.
